Summary and Key Points: The USS Forrestal (CVA-59) revolutionized aircraft carrier design, laying the groundwork for modern supercarriers.
-As the first carrier designed for jet aircraft, it introduced the angled flight deck, steam catapults, and the optical landing system.
-These innovations, particularly the Fresnel lens technology, remain integral to carrier operations today.
-The Forrestal’s size and flight deck layout influenced the Nimitz and Ford-class carriers, which further optimized sortie rates and aircraft capacity.
-Though decommissioned, the Forrestal’s legacy is evident in the current US Navy’s carrier fleet.
USS Forrestal Was an Important Aircraft Carrier
When we look at the powerful images of the United States Navy’s modern aircraft carriers, it is easy to overlook the years of development and experimentation that preceded them and inspired their configuration, mission objectives, and technologies.
Of course, we all know the USS Gerald Ford and the Navy’s current fleet of Nimitz-class carriers did not spontaneously materialize out of a vacuum but instead resulted from years of innovation, design work, and modernization initiatives, many of them from the carriers that preceded them.
USS Forrestal “Firsts”
One such example can be seen with the US Navy’s USS Forrestal (CVA-59) supercarrier, which burst into operational status in the mid-1950s to become the largest carrier ever built. The USS Forrestal also had many firsts, as it was not only the first carrier built to support fighter jet aircraft but also pioneered other now-standard carrier features such as an angled flight deck, steam catapult, and optical landing system.
The Forrestal was also known as the FID, for “First in Defense,” as it was named after the first Secretary of Defense, James Forrestal. The ship was 1,067 feet long and operated with a displacement of 81,101 long tons at full load, making it the first supercarrier ever to exist.
The USS Forrestal served for four decades across multiple theaters, including the Atlantic, Mediterranean, and Pacific regions. It was decommissioned in 1993 and made available as a museum before ultimately being scrapped in Brownsville, Texas, in 2015.
The innovations pioneered on the Forrestal have greatly influenced aircraft carrier designs, technologies, and practices. Although steam catapults are now being replaced by advanced Electromagnetic jet-launching systems on the Navy’s Ford-class carriers, they were a signature element of the Navy’s Nimitz-class carriers, a group of strong, long-serving carriers that evolved from the Forrestal’s supercarrier era.
Optical landing system technology is another defining element of US Navy aircraft carrier operations, and it can also be traced to the Forrestal. Today, fighter jets seeking an optimal glide slope to descend upon and land on a flight deck are guided by a balancing high-tech light called the Fresnel lens.
This lens is a light that aligns with the aircraft’s angle, trajectory, and glide slope to help the pilot stay on course for a successful landing. This navigation advance was a breakthrough technology that added optical technology to support and further stabilize carrier-deck landings.
It still exists in an upgraded form on the US Navy’s Ford-class carriers. For example, the USS Gerald R. Ford uses a modernized “improved Fresnel Lens Optical Landing System” “to assist pilots as they establish a glide slope and land a fighter jet on deck.”
USS Forrestal on fire in 1967. Image Credit: US Navy.
Forrestal undergoing sea trials, 29 September 1955
US Navy Aircraft Carrier USS Forrestal on Fire.
Image: Creative Commons.
When landing on carriers in a fighter jet, pilots learned to fly the ball as it was called, and align, balance, and center their glide slope with the alignment with the circular yellow Fresnel lens light.
Supercarriers
It is not a huge stretch to suggest that the long flight deck of the USS Forrestal inspired the deck of the USS Ford and Nimitz-class carriers, as they are the same length, 1,092 to 1,101 feet. The deck area was also a consequence of engineering future carriers, as Forrestal’s full deck area encompassed four acres. In contrast, the Ford and Nimitz-class carriers operate with a slightly larger 4.5-acre deck area.
It makes sense that the Navy would seek to enlarge the flight deck area, as both the Nimitz and Ford carriers were engineered to optimize sortie rate and high-op-tempo air attack operations. The Ford-class goes even further by repositioning the island on the flight deck, which enables the class to increase the sortie rate by as much as 33 percent.
Both the Nimitz and Ford-class flight decks seem to have roots in the USS Forrestal’s design.
Interestingly, the USS Forrestal is described as capable of carrying as many as 100 aircraft, something entirely commensurate with its supercarrier label, as the Nimitz and Ford-class carriers were engineered to carry 80 and 90 aircraft, respectively.
This means aircraft were likely parked or stored differently on the USS Forrestal in a manner that enabled the carrier to operate with a slightly larger number of planes.
About the Author: Kris Osborn
Kris Osborn is Military Technology Editor of 1945 and the President of Warrior Maven – Center for Military Modernization. Osborn previously served at the Pentagon as a highly qualified expert in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army—Acquisition, Logistics & Technology. Osborn has also worked as an anchor and on-air military specialist at national TV networks. He has appeared as a guest military expert on Fox News, MSNBC, The Military Channel, and The History Channel. He also has a Masters Degree in Comparative Literature from Columbia University.
